Justin Marks Admits “Big Polarizing Personality” Carson Hocevar is Good For NASCAR

Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar is slowly but surely establishing himself the superstar NASCAR should bank on in the future with his impressive performance on the track and controversies of it. His bold statements, aggressive racing style, appearance on the Times 100 list and Met Gala has kept him consistently in the media headlines.

Justin Marks, the co-owner of Trackhouse Racing, recently talked about the Spire driver on Speed with Harvick and Buxton podcast. He highlighted that the sport needs polarizing figures like the No:77 Chevy driver, as it gives fans storylines to follow and would help to attract more casual fans towards stock car racing.

We need big stars. It’s like right now, what Carson’s doing right now, like being this big polarizing personality is just so good for the sport, in my opinion. It’s not a lot different than what I think about Trackhouse, this is primarily a storytelling exercise and if we tell great stories that connect with the fans…and they get invested in a driver’s journey, a driver’s personality, a driver’s rivals, like whatever it is, that’s the sticky stuff that’s really going to like attract more and more fans.

Justin Marks said about Hocevar.

Later Justin Marks jokingly highlighted how Carson Hocevar reportedly dating TikToker Tabitha Swatosh is good for the sport, as it helps to attract a while different set of fans to racing. The sports need more authentic stories, and NASCAR needs to explore that side of the race cars driver like Hocevar with the driver ambassador program.

A TikTok girlfriend, exactly, it’s like we were just joking; it’s like the DAP, the driver ambassador program, shouldn’t be appearances; it should be like tattoos and famous girlfriends and like all that stuff. But that’s really what it is. I mean, we’re in the business of telling great authentic stories that inspire people and connect people deeply with the sport.

Justin Marks added via Speed with Harvick and Buxton.

The biggest issue the sport is facing at the moment is the fact there hasn’t been a real racing superstar that is relevant outside the motorsports bubble since Dale Earnhardt Jr. There are multiple drivers that are capable of being that like the Spire youngster and NASCAR needs to invest in making them marketable faces, while also working on making the cars as well as race product better.

I think celebrating that is… We can change the cars, we can do those tweaks, and obviously the racing needs to be good, but if we can have these drivers attach themselves to legions of fans and they tune in for that driver’s journey, I think it’s the biggest growth opportunity for the sport.

Justin Marks asserted.

Justin Marks highlights NASCAR goals after charter lawsuit settlement

In the same conversation, Marks talked about how the settlement of the controversial charter lawsuit has helped the NASCAR community to come closer and work together for a better future. They needs to address the growth opportunities and according to the racer/team owner drivers’ star power is a key factor to that.

We have these discussions a lot right now, and I think that the dialogue between the teams and NASCAR is about as good as it’s been since I got here in 2022. I think coming out of the lawsuit, it’s sort of like, ‘Okay, you know the noise is sort of behind us, like all that’s behind us now, we need to get singularly focused on addressing the biggest growth levers for the business.’…I’d say the biggest thing for me is amplifying these drivers, the star power in these drivers…

Justin Marks said.

The comments from Marks, who is one of the most innovative team owners in the sport, is on point and the whole community should take notes. It would be interesting to see how the sport is going work on developing the stardom of their racers in the coming years.

Also Read: “I’ve Changed My Mind!” Kyle Larson Makes Major Decision on His Sprint Car Racing Retirement Timeline